Lane Evans

Mr. Speaker, the sexual enslavement of more than 200,000 young women and girls by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II is one of the most ignored and overlooked violations of human rights and international law in the 20th Century. These women, euphemistically known as ``Comfort Women,'' are now elderly and living their last years without a formal apology from the government that enslaved them. We cannot allow these survivors to fade into history without the closure that would come from official recognition, which is why my colleague, the Honorable Christopher Smith, and I introduced H. Res. 759, calling on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and take responsibility for its involvement in this unspeakable atrocity.

Our resolution has broad Congressional support with 55 bipartisan cosponsors, including a substantial number of Members from the International Relations Committee, and the Congressional Human Rights, Women's Rights, Asian Pacific American, and Korea Caucuses. Additionally, on September 13, 2006, the resolution was marked up in the International Relations committee by unanimous consent, and subsequently sent to the Speaker with an official request that it be considered on the floor under suspension of the rules. We have also seen an overwhelming response from the Korean American, Chinese American, Filipino American and Vietnamese American communities to the Speaker asking for the resolution to come before the entire House of Representatives. Amnesty International, as well as prominent Japanese- American Congressman and my close friend, Mike Honda, also strongly and vocally support H. Res. 759

Mr. Speaker, it is beyond my understanding why H. Res. 759 has not been scheduled for floor consideration. There has been no visible controversy about the bill from Members of Congress.

Moreover, many of the bills also marked up in the September 13 International Relations Committee hearing have made it to floor and passed by voice vote. It is deeply disturbing that the leadership of this House is not interested in supporting human rights or reiterating the role of the Congress to oppose human trafficking and other similar atrocities that have occurred throughout the world. This is not a Japanese issue, this is not a Korean issue, this is not an American issue; this is an issue about human dignity. And it is a slap in the face to those who have worked so hard to bring the Comfort Women issue to light on the international stage and especially to those who have been directly or indirectly affected by sexual slavery for this resolution to die at the hands of the Speaker after it successfully completed all the necessary procedural steps and demonstrated broad bipartisan support.

I urge the Speaker in the strongest terms possible to allow H. Res. 759 to come before the full House under suspension of the rules before the end of the 109th Congress, so that we may once and for all put this issue to rest, and leave this Congress having made a strong statement in support of human dignity.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 5815, the VA construction authorization bill. I commend my colleagues on the Committee in producing this important piece of legislation.

I am glad to see Congress once again fulfilling its responsibility to authorize new health care facilities for veterans. This is an important task. Veterans deserve the highest quality of health care.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, on June 29, 2006, my colleague, Mr. Simmons, and I introduced H. Con. Res. 444, extending the thanks of Congress and the Nation to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command of the Department of Defense, the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, the Air Force Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory, and the military departments and to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for their efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans unaccounted for as a result of the Nation's previous wars and conflicts. I am honored to stand before you today in support of this resolution.

On Friday we will celebrate National POW/MIA Recognition Day. As a Vietnam-era veteran I am deeply touched by the opportunity to discuss this resolution on the floor so close to this important day of recognition. It is difficult for me to understand that over 30 years after the end of hostilities in Vietnam, 1,802 Americans are still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. It is only through the hard work and cooperation of the people, officials and governments of Vietnam and the United States that the remains of 604 Americans have been identified and returned to the United States. They are the heroes who are helping to bring closure and peace to so many American families.

I urge all my colleagues to vote in support of this long overdue recognition and send a heartfelt message to all the individuals involved in the identification and recovery efforts that a thankful Nation values and appreciates the work they do.